Fire-extinguishing apparatus.



C. H. MUGS.

NRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man JULY 25,1911.

Lw. l r mmm '0%. 29, ma.

WMLM W@ errar HLRL'ES H. MEGS, F PHILADELPHIA,

6c FORBES COMPANY, OF CAT/IDEE, NEW

PENNSYLVANIA, acercaron 'ro nacan'nnnwe JERSEY, a. conrona'rron ormaaar.

FIRE-ETENGUISHING .lEPARTU Specification of Letters Patent.

llatentcd tiet.. titl? Application filed July 25. 1917. eral lilo.182.754,-,

4the foaml produced formingr a deterrent against the escape of the gas.These solutions are of various types. as for instance vthose ltnou'n as:Foan1ite""solutions made in accordant-e with the patents to 1*d/'alkerNor". Llollfl() or 1,219,509.

These solutions, `vhen brought together,l

produce the extinguishing compound, this heini; brought ahout h v thechemical reactions, ot' the ingredients contained in the solutions. therapidity of development dependingr uiore or less upon the rapidity ofcornmixture of the solutions. After devel opment. the foam bubbles tendto maintain themselves for a period and then break down and hecomeuseless for the particular purpose. ln order, therefore, stream ot' thecompound heinen delivered n1a \v he at its maximum etliciency at thepoint ot application, the solutions should he. hrou'ght together andcarried vin cornposite stream form for a suiiicient timeto produce thedesired eommiature,` and the stream then he brought to the point orn application as rapidly as possible in order that. 'the compound may hedelivered and put to service before material deterioration of the pcompound takes place. For these reasons it is desirable that the travelof the composite stream Within an inclosed conduit, such a pipe or inhose connections, oe restricted inu length to that actually required toproride for a desired commixture. And since the rapidityY of thedevelopment ot the' compound h v the comrnixture of the solutions willnecessarilyy vary with the cross sectionalneize ot the streain.- thecross'sectional area and the length ot the conduit in which thecommixture is provided should that the tiled .var iy accordingly. lt isunderstood. oi course that the committed solutions are discharged instream `t'orm and under a pressure sudicient to carry the streamcontents to the point of application; hence the eolutions travel throughthe conduit at comparatirelyv higz'h speed.

The foannextinn'uishing process. 'while usable in other relations, isparticularly adapted for service in extinguishing burning` intlannnablesubstances. such t'or instance, asA oils. gasolene. etc.. thus makingthe process particularly adaptable for use in protecting oil tanks.l asfor instance is referred to in the patents to livalker, Nos. 1.186,21@and 1,186,251.

As shown in these patents, the commiXed solutionsare delivered onto thesurfaceot the burning oil in the tanks, acting to smother the firetherein. ln the, apparatus shown in these patents.` the eommixture takesplace in amixinef head attached to the tank.y the solutionsl hein;rseparatel)v brought to the head and permitted to commix therein.suitable means heiner provided for autonuiticall;Y limiting! the time ofdeliveryY ot the solutions to the mixing head to periods when tireconditions raise the temperature to an extent sullicient to tripreleasingn mechanism. Thiel t'orm of apparatue is adapted moreparticularly for use with single tanks in which the quantity osolutionsl required is compa atively small so that the cross sectionalarea oi the solution )lies or conduits need not he lare'e..

Furthermore. the mixingr head arrangement is such that. the solutionsare not immediateljv discharged therefrom and hence suffh cientlengljtl'l of time for proper commixture is permitted, the compoundWellingr up and passing out over a ledge into tho tank.

VWhile the general arrangreiiient disclosed in these patents to Talkeris adapted for isolated tanks. the cost ot installation and maintenancemay he materially reduced where the system is installed in connectionVwith a central oil station or where a compaiativelyY large number otanks are arranged in close proxm'nty, tor instance at an oil refinery.or at a field collecting station. ln such installatiops it is possible'by the use of a system ot the type disclosed in an application at DuncanW. Patterson. ilarch 13, 19H', seriallivv numbered loef/271, to connectthe mixing chainhere possible conditions, the connections arenecessarily of larger capacity thaii tliose required for the individualinstallations. For

instance, Wherean individual installation may have the4 solutionconnections of less than one inch in diameter, a system operatinsV witha large number ot' tanks will re quire its solution connections-.of adiameter -fprobably exceeding one and one-half inches,

thus largely increasing the cross-sectional area of the stream beingrdelivered from the solution pipes into the mixing heads.

One of the ditliculties `which maybe encountered when the contents or' atank are ignited is the explosive eli'cct which tends to blow olf thetop of the tank, possibly scatteringr the burning oil and igniting othermaterials which may be in the vicinity of the burning tank. Whe-re thetank top is completely blown oil of the tank and the latter lettentirely exposed, the apparatus heretotore referred to will smother thetire in the tank since the entire oil surface is accessible to thefoam-extinguishing compound.

lllhcre, however, the falling top returns to the tank, probably in aninverted position, it may gather up some of the burning oil which isthus segregated from the oil in the tank and is inaccessible to thecompound being delivered.

Where the tank is one of a number oi tanks in the field, the inabilityto smother the oil which is burning outside of the tank is more or lessot a menace to the remaining tanks, and it is essential that thecompound be rapidly brought to these scattered oil .burning sections.

The present.,invention is designed more particularly to take care oi theconditions produced by these scattered burning areas inaccessible to thepermanent system. Tvlhile it is possible to use hand extinguishers, thclo ation ot the-burning areas may be such that considerable delay willoccur in bringing the compound to bear on the burning surfaces. Thepresent invention, therefore, contemplates providingthe permanentconnections of the system with flexible auxiliary delivery structuresleadingr from hose stations connected tothe solution conduits and havingsuitable manual valve control. The connections preferably are such as tomain tain the individuality of the solutions to a point in proximity tothe nozzle structure,-

the mixing chamber "being located immediately in the rear of thenozzle-the nozzle itself may form the discharge end ot the chamber@ Bythis arrangement a lieitible conduit. system is provided which Wil-lenable the hose nozzle to be quickly carried 'to any desired pointwithin the limits of the connections" i q 'However, certain ditlicultiesare present in the use 'of a hose connection in this manner, thesediiiicalti'es being more or less due 'to the time reqiiiredin developingthe com pound from the solutions. (living. to the increasedcrossfs'ectional area of the solution streams, and .thelfact thatdelivery from the nozzle must be under pressure, it is practicallyrequired that the mixing chamber be ot considerable cross Sectionalarea, and, in addition, the length of such chamber must be materiallyiiicreas'ed'in order that proper before being,r discharged from thenozzle, the discharge bein i in stream form and under pressure in ortei' to deliver the stream at a point distant from the nozzle.

Service conditions have shown that, in large installations,such asindicated, a mining chamber for proper developn'ient oit the compoundshould be not less than live feet in length. l lVliile it is possible,with solution streams of small cross sectional area, to obtain thedesired development within the limits of a nozzle having a lengthcapable of being readily moved about, such arrangement is not possiblewhere the retpiired length of the mixing chamber is in excess ot livefeet, manipulation of a nozzle of this length to produce any efficientresult being practicalliY impossible.

It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide anarrangement which will meet these service conditions, viz., a flexibleconduit arrangement `for the separate solutions practically having thecross sectional capacity oit the permanent connections and having anozzle discharge for the developed compound, the Whole being adapt-4 edto be quickly brought into service.

To this and other ends, therefore, the na ture ot' which will be readilyunderstood as thc intention is hereinafter disclosed, said inventionconsists in the improved construe- 'tion and combination .of partshereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompaiiyiiig drawings,and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying,r drawings:

Figure l is a diagrammatic vieriv showing a oeneial and Jerinanent sYstenfi for servin e l l development. of the compound may be had dnaunder vinitial explosion having blown otl the top weapon a servicecondition which the present'invention is designed to meet.

Fig. 3 isa perspective view showing a simple form in which the presentinvention maybe embodied.

Referring more particularly to Fig. l, in which the independent linesfor the soli.- tions are indicated generally at 10 and 11. thesesolution lines are connected up to sources ot' supply located in apumpingr station P, the solutions beine; delivered to the solution linesby the action of a pump structure ,22, the system being generally on thelines ot that disclosed in the application to Patterson heretoforereferred to, the several tanks beiner indicated at T.

l2 indicates stations where the solution conduitsI 10 and 11 'may betapped to feed the flexible auxiliary connections, indicated moreparticularly in Fig'. 3p.

ln Fig. 2, l have shown a condition aristire conditions at a tank, the

oli a tank which top, in its return, has fallen into the tank in aninverted position and taken up a portion of the baring contents. As willbe seen, the permanent discharge element I) is capable of delivering thecompound to the surface of the burning oil beloiv the top, but thissurface will not place any of the compound on the burning oil Within thetop. the result being. to prevent spreadingr of the fire, this burningoil must he smothered by other means. And similar conditions arise withrespect to the burning,r oil which vvas scattered by the initialexplosion.

To provide this auxiliary flexible structure, l preferably employseparate flexible conduits 13 and l-l, which are connected to suppl-yconduits 10 and 11. Conduitg 13 and 1l. which may be in the forni ofindividual hose connections. or in the form of twin hose.' are otsuitable length, these conduits being: connected to conduits 10 and l1by valve structures l5 and 16. The outer ends oit the conduits 13 and 1lare connected by a suitable Y connection 17 by means of which theseparate' solutions are delivered into a single channel. this providingthe entrance to the mixing chamber.

T he nozzle is indicated at 1S. this bring of anyv desired type.preferably: tapered. and of a size to permit ready liar'idlinpr by theope ator. The main mixing chamber is in thc form of a flexible' hosesection 19 which connects the nozzle and Y-nieinber 17. this section 19being ot' a length sutlicient to permit proper development ot thecompound without. however. retaining the compound a length of time suchas would materially reduce the period o inactivity ot the developed foambefore it begins dete'iioi'atine'` The. advantage ot this ivill bereadily understood trom the tact that in use the nozzle is not broughtvforty feet or more.

mix the streams. the issuing;

' greater length of time.

aan

ini

directlyvto the point ot application, the issuing stream traveling aconsiderable distance before reaching the point ot application; in somecases this distance has been Since the conditions present in the travelof the stream through the air are such as may tend to further coin-Istream may be slightly under-developed with respect to the t'oam andthus reach the point of application in proper developed condition andtherefore able to maintain the integrity of the foam at the point ofapplication for a stream is required to travel a considerable distanceWithin the conduit before complete development is h'ad, of activity ofthe foam before deterioration sets in is so reduced when the Streamreaches the point of application as to greatly decrease tlieeffectiveness ot' the compound.`

Hence, section 19 is of limited length. the limitation in this respectbeing practically controlled by the time required in developing thecompound, this section being designed as a miXing head Within which thecompound is developed rather than as a conduit or carrier 4for thedeveloped cornpound.

AS will be clear, the object in foi-ming sec-- tion 19 flexible., isthat its larger cross sectional capacity andleng'th will not materiallyai'ect the portability of the structure or its ready manipulation by anoperator, so that the stream can be quickly placed in action at a pointof application.

While I have herein more particularly described tlie use of the.invention as an auxiliary appliance to a permanent system and inconnection with oil 'tank fields. it is to be understood that theinvention is not lii'nited to this particular forni of installation,since it may obviously be used in other connections. v

While I have herein shown and described a preferred arrangement otapparatus, it will be readily1 understood that changes and modificationstherein may be found necessary or desirable to meet. the exigencies otuse, and I desire to be understood as reserving the right to make anyand all such changes or modifications as inay be considered essentialWithout departing from bviously. it" theV the normal time limitieu thespirit of the invention or exceeding the I scope of the appended claims.

What l claim is:

l. ln foam-producing tire-extinguishing apparatus, the combination withthe sources ot' supply of the different component solutions ofoam-producing media, movable duplex conduit structure haringindependent passages tor conducting the ditierent solution componentsand main taining them separate, means for coupling.

one end oit the conduit structure to the said ot' a freely- "oources ofsupply, e flexible hose section connected tolthe outlet end of saidconduit structure into which the component solo tions mayhpuss, seidsection bcingof Sullicientlength and orosseectional aree to per mitproper commixture of the iioz'nnLproduein'g component passingtherr-ithrough, and :L delivery nozzle et the end of the said hoseSection for directing the foam as desited. 4

2. A so1ution-condueting and delivery apparatus for' foamtire-eiltinguiehinon :sjetems comprising a freely-movable (Triplexvconduit structure having independent pessages 'for separatelyconducting the dili'en ent solution components of foam-producing media,means for coupling one end of the conduit structure to separate sourcesof supply of said 'media, :i flexible hose section connected to "theoutlet end of said conduit structure, said hose section heiligl ofsufficient length and cross-sectional aree to per mit proper cornmixtureof the foam-pierino ing componentsv passing therethrough, and

e delivery nozzle at the end ,ofeaid hose section. A

8. A solution-conducting and delivery op? paretus for formi{ire-extinguishing systems comprising a freely movable duplex conduitstructure having independent pareages for seperately conducting thedifferent Solution components of tonni-producing medie, coupling lneemcarried by oneend oLl seid conduit structure o if-Shaped fittingconnected to theol-,her end of said structure, a flexible hose sectionconnected to said Y-shupedv Fitting, seid hose section being ofsufficient length and croseeectionol aree to permit proper commixture ofoeluproducing components passing therethrough, und e deliv n erynozzleet the end of said hose section.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto eet my hand m presence ol: twosubscribing Witmesses.

HRLES H. MEIGS. lllitnessee WILLIAM J. WELSH, Jr., FRANK il'.ll/smurfen.

